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Acorns, Asphaltum, and Asymmetrical Exchange: Invisible Exports and the Political Economy of the Santa Barbara Channel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mikael Fauvelle*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093([email protected])

Abstract

Exciting new discoveries have forced us to reevaluate longstanding assumptions regarding the origins of social complexity in the area of the Santa Barbara Channel. Whereas previous models for the development of Chumash chiefdoms assumed that islands were terrestrially marginal environments, current data suggest islanders enjoyed a diversity of subsistence resources. Given these developments, it is time for us to reexamine the economic basis for exchange across the Santa Barbara Channel.

Nuevos e interesantes descubrimientos nos han obligado a reevaluar nuestros viejos supuestos acerca de los orígenes de la complejidad social en el area del Canal de Santa Barbara. Mientras modelos anteriores para el desarrollo de cacicazgos entre los Chumash asumieron que las islas eran lugares marginales para recursos terrestres, nuevos datos sugieren que los isleños tuvieron una diversidad de recur sos de subsistencia. Considerando estos avances, es el momento de reexaminar las bases económicas de intercambio a través del Canal de Santa Barbara.

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Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2014

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References

References Cited

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